thanksgiving is a time %uh traditions not generally political traditions but
there are few and one of the big ones that no president can miss out on
is the pardoning above the turkey President Obama did that today
on behalf of the Obama family I want to wish everybody a very Happy Thanksgiving
tomorrow as we gather with our own friends and family will count ourselves
lucky that there's
more be thankful for the weekend ever say
and more be hopeful for the weekend ever met and now before these turkeys get
away
with the power vested in me I want to grant
popcorn a full recovery I'll
come on ball
well
a that's a lovely little family event that they had their pardoning
actually two turkeys caramel and popcorn very cute names and it's kinda weird
to name an animal that has been bred to not end up as food after food that's a
little bit odd
but two turkeys pardoned that makes 10
turkeys for Obama that have been pardoned during his first and second
terms
we'll get back to those numbers a little later on but we do want to give you a
little bit information about the tradition
it started in the late at the Lee eighties actually
other the research that I did came up with that apparently reagan started it
inadvertently
by making a joke about pardoning the turkey is now at his at that point in
his second term
pardons were a pretty serious topic consider iran contra
he decided to make light of it by talking about pardoning a turkey and out
later on in eighty nine george HW Bush pardoned to the first one and it has
happened
every year since then now these turkeys as a letter to earlier are raised from
birth
specifically for the purpose being pardoned later on and actually the way
that their breads in San up bread for food
the bread for like the presentation on camera they apparently are in horrible
health and they very rarely live longer than a year after being pardoned
but during that time over the past 20 years they've been sent to different
places sometimes farms
up but there's appeared about 10 years where they would actually lead
Disneyland Disneyworld Thanksgiving I
parades which is pretty fun and but
sometimes this tradition can go wrong not at the presidential level but
since it became a big thing for the US some governors have done it well
done as well you might remember Sarah Palin doing and it became
got a little bit weird actually so let's roll that therefore I Sarah Palin
governor last anticipating and hoping that in the spirit of Thanksgiving
alaskans everywhere will find adequate nourishment elsewhere and without this
particular turkey
I do hereby grant Thanksgiving a call
amnesty and pardon and it is so ordered
and we will pick one in the big Thomas
CEO pardon UK so
nothing wrong with that so far but you wanna talk to the camera
afterward in a change locations a little bit let's take a look
there so many good americans who are just Desiree number and their government
to come together the way to allow them to grow in progress in all our
businesses to grow and progress a great appreciation for
those who share that value and it was a blast every day was just a blast up
there on the trail
any other 122 behind my should not using program coming up
you know thankfully word in a good position still fiscally speaking with
we're in a good position but
it in made no sense at a hundred and forty dollars
a barrel of oil that get some lawmakers wanted to spend spend spend we're
warning them and the administration was that we had to prepare for the day
that the price of oil would plummet which of course that has done so
we had prepared then and reigned in the growth in government then and we will
%uh
at now way it that comes into play at this point
where and the savings that we had set aside forward funnnnn anticipating a
drop in oil
accounting for that all that comes into play now at fifty dollars a barrel of
oil
what's most important to you doll
for me day I was there a happy to get to be invited to participate in this event
so I'm political obviously that it's nice to get out and
and and do something to promote a local business and and 2i just participate in
something that isn't so
heavy-handed politics that day it invites criticism
certainly will prolly my criticism for even doing this to you but at least this
was fun
I think that that video is interesting in that it really points out sort of the
the inconsistency or hypocrisy I love the tradition itself that
she goes inside and pardons one turkey that for all we know ended up getting
killed anyway
while as she's doing that they're just jamming turkeys into the machine to be
slaughtered in the guys like
turning like smiling for the camera because no matter what your job is
everybody wants to be famous for a few minutes and so he did that while choking
a turkey
but in terms Obama in the current like tradition of pardoning a turkey
I think that it's its cue I understand why they do it can seem to like it they
like the idea that the turkeys I'm going live on a farm for the rest with life
but it is it's a very hot holiday both because one it's sorta makes a mockery
out turkeys and other animals that are used for food it's not like
the pardons the turkey and then they go on to have a very Merry vegan dinner for
Thanksgiving know they eat other animals
it so it seems weird to it like choose one it feels like The Hunger Games to me
or like
you're sacrificing about humans which is one is an example love your mercy or
something so that seems weird to me
but also more importantly more politically it makes a mockery of
pardoning
that was the whole point early on as they said that while Reagan was doing
and now like yeah Obama's pardoning turkey is and as the
having a post went up spartan 10 turkeys is only pardoned 11 drug users
there certainly other things he could be using pardoning power Ford I think we
have a better
affect on the country all the people who are brought in for using different types
of illegal drugs
and maybe Edwards node Bradley Manning perhaps I'm sure you could come up with
a lot of different people who could be pardoned
that Marissa Alexander she's appealing her decision when in the self defense
then around case
maybe you could partner since you didn't hurt anybody and she's gonna the jail
for over 20 years
so I don't wanna be a Debbie Downer I don't wanna be both Killington I
understand just supposed to be cute it's something we do in this country
but understand that politics does not and while the cameras are rolling on the
pardoning the turkeys they remain
and I think that casts a pretty interesting light on the use the
presidential pardon